I was staggering so much myself between this one and Dishonored. Dishonored was not as engaging choice wise, but had some very freeing gameplay in a stuck up linear narrow corridor industry as of right now.

Walking Dead was the other end of the neglected spectrum of good characters, morally grey choices with no obvious black and white with consequences and a sense of urgency. Walking Dead wins at the end... it really is something magnificent. Nothing the last couple of years comes close to this in satisfactory time spent.

Fappy:I've heard they're planning to release all the episodes as one game soon. Any chance anyone knows when that'll be available?

It's already there - came out December 11th.

Yeah, just looked at the wiki page. I think I know what I am playing this weekend...

EDIT: Scratch that. Going to wait for Steam to put it a bit more on sale. 25% off right now, but I bet it'll hit 50% before the winter sale is over.

But if you pay more ( yes it is more expensive) but you are showing more support to the developer, and if the game is everything Jim says it is then it is totally worth the extra few bucks (I don't know for sure I haven't played it only started to download it 1 minute ago)

Well what can I say.. I suppose its just Jim..But it's a bit disappointing.

Let me start by saying that I don't think the walking dead is a bad game. It is, arguably the best adventure game I can think of, and the writing, and characters are rather excellent. The story is also well told (if a bit stretched through some of the episodes), and the conclusion is great even if I felt it was a bit theatrical and was expecting it for a while. Anyhow it is what it is, a great, thoughtfully written "chose your own adventure book" made out of cutscenes. And that is AS FAR AS THE GAME CAN BE CONSIDERED GOOD.

The game in its GAME aspect, is extremely weak. It does no strides to bring mechanics up to par with the narrative like Spec Ops does, it exposes bluntly rather than imply subtly as Journey does, and in the end, it feels just like an extremely static movie where you can switch play a different chapter in specific points of the game. In fact it even holds back the interesting growing trend of active unconscious decision-making in favor of a spread sheet dialogue tree structure.

It presents dramatically the weaknesses of the genre too, in many situations forcing you to solve a problem in a manner so structured that it becomes obtuse, with inadequate control mechanics akin to the messy Heavy Rain, and often not even allowing the option to react as one would (like Mass effect's "choice").

I know it's a very Nintendo fanboy card to play, but games are about Gameplay, and gameplay should enhance the experience of the story. In the Walking dead, there is no gameplay to speak of, and when it's here, it rarely ever enhances the experience. For a game of the year award, I think its a necessity to ask the questions: Could this Game be done in another medium? and, is this better for being a game? And in this particular case I think the answer is that we could very well see this game as an "interactive tv show", and even a less frustrating literal chose your own adventure book.Considering that a few games this year managed to drive the medium forward with experiences that cannot exist outside the medium itself, and also manage to have a profound emotional impact (really, this was good but it often bordered on cheesyness) it seems like the wrong pick.. but well, maybe that's just me.

I don't understand why everyone loves this game. Sure, it had a good story, but the gameplay was little more than quick time events, and none of your choices really mattered. None of your choices had any real impact. Even Heavy Rain at least gave multiple branches and choices, Walking Dead was just too linear for my tastes. I felt like I was watching a movie where the main character says different things every time you rewatch it, and you're required to mash a button for every action sequence. I certainly see the appeal, but it's definitely not a good game in my opinion.

Edit: Didn't realize you had a PC as well. You could buy it in episodes on console, and download the whole thing at once on PC (you had to buy a season pass rather than episode by episode).

I appreciate the tips but I don't have a iOS device and my laptop is close to five years old, I used an Xbox 360 until it broke down recently. I'm just going to have to wait it out until I can afford a new 360 or PS3 :-P

I agree with it's GotY, but I do have to disagree it had an unprecedented amount of choice. The illusion is very convincing, but play the game more than once and you'll realize that simply none of your choices matter. Not a single one. They all lead out to the same conclusion. They all lead out to the same events. It does what most games that offer choice do: have the characters around you reflect it instead. The major difference is how they feel about you, not what happens. I don't have a problem with that, but this was a hugely disappointing factor for me in subsequent playthroughs.

Personally, I think this is a huge flaw with the game I wish more people would address. Considering that TellTale could have easily made a game that changed settings every season, meaning it didn't have to deal with the consequences of many different decisions as their game kept getting longer and more complex. I felt like the episodic format could have offered up the feeling of making decisions you know will affect you in the future, but also deliver upon those expectations within the same game, without having to worry that a large portion of your players will never own the later games.

...with that said, I 100% agree with this choice. This has been one of the best games I have played all year (and possibly this generation) and I am incredibly excited for Season 2 to start. There are a few things that I wish Telltale would do, specifically:

Not really a spoiler since there is nothing specific but I do not even want the hint of a spoiler for people who have not playedPHA+SSByZWFsbHkgd2lzaGVkIHRoYXQgbm9ibGUgZGVjaXNpb25zIGxpa2Ugc2F2aW5nIHBlb3BsZSBoYWQgbW9yZSByaXNrLiAgRm9yIGV4YW1wbGUsIGlmIHlvdSBjaG9vc2UgdG8gcmlzayB5b3VyIGxpZmUgdG8gc2F2ZSBQZXJzb24gQSwgbWF5YmUgUGVyc29uIEIgaW4geW91ciBncm91cCBnZXRzIGtpbGxlZCBiZWNhdXNlIG9mIHRoZSB0aW1lIGl0IHRvb2sgeW91IHRvIHNhdmUgUGVyc29uIEEuICBJdCBkb2VzIG5vdCBhbHdheXMgaGF2ZSB0byBoYXBwZW4gYnV0IEkgd2lzaCB0aGUgcmlzayB3YXMgcHJlc2VudC48L3A+

My only regret is the long, wasteful intro. 40 seconds of what, random cut scenes and gameplay? At least its skippable. Just gotta hop around the timer to find the sweet spot where the video actually starts.

All the annoyance of an advertisement but no one is even getting paid for it.

Whenever I see a "best games" list, it always tends to weigh story over gameplay. Games on "best games" lists tend to excel in the story over the gameplay. Not that there is anything wrong with that, and if the story is what works for whomever is making the list, then I wouldn't want them to pick a game that doesn't do right by their own internal direction of gaming quality.

But I tend to look for the gameplay, and always feel a disconnect whenever I see these lists. For once, I'd like to see a list where the Dota 2 beta is the winner, followed by Torchlight, or something.

personion:I don't understand why everyone loves this game. Sure, it had a good story, but the gameplay was little more than quick time events, and none of your choices really mattered. None of your choices had any real impact. Even Heavy Rain at least gave multiple branches and choices, Walking Dead was just too linear for my tastes. I felt like I was watching a movie where the main character says different things every time you rewatch it, and you're required to mash a button for every action sequence. I certainly see the appeal, but it's definitely not a good game in my opinion.

So, because it tried something you weren't used to, it's bad? Sure, the gameplay might be minimal, but that's a bit petty, don't you think?

The Walking Dead is being talked about so much this year, not to mention in so many GotY categories over many different sites, that I almost feel compelled to play it. My main problem? It's from Telltale Games.

I've played a few of their games and, frankly, they sucked. Game play was non-existent, writing absolutely horrible and cliched, and it always felt like a waste of time. Jurassic Park was my first episodic game from them that I played and I only did it because they were free and they each had trophies. I'm trying to get through Back to the Future except...how can anyone play a game that's so point-and-click? It's as if they are still making games for a mid '90s audience.

From what I understand, The Walking Dead has the same gameplay as these other games but with better writing? Eh...I don't know.

And for the record, if there was ever a game that made me cry, it was Mass Effect 3 (aka the game-which-must-not-be-named), and not because of how it ended. Journey was also a bawler. Climbing up the mountain in the snow by myself...damn.

never really cared for this game but maybe i will give it a try if i feel like it and its cheap. i still havent played spec ops which i was keeping an eye on. i wait till steam has it cheaper or get it from the store when their price drops.

I know it's a very Nintendo fanboy card to play, but games are about Gameplay, and gameplay should enhance the experience of the story.

Well, some might argue that games are about the experience and, as long as I enjoyed the experience, then there is no reason to worry about how much interactivity or gameplay that there is in the game.

There's no reason to think that there is a minimum level or type of interactivity or gameplay that is required to enhance an experience, as long as the experience is good, right? This was a phenomenal experience for what it was.

What ending, you say? Clicky clicky!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

Can you perhaps give some proof of this because the ending I got and from what research I've done all go like this

I agree wholeheartedly with Jim's choice for GOTY. It was definitely my choice too. The story was amazing, the characters were near perfect, the voice acting was great, my main problem with the game is the technical stuff. Framerate issues, saves being deleted(didn't happen to me but I'd have been annoyed if it did),etc. None of this should stop anyone from playing the game though. As for the choices not having much of an effect on the story, I disagree. Sure, it didn't change the story much at all, and the outcome was the same for everyone, but what really mattered was the character interaction, which, when you think about it, was what the game was going for. Your choices in who you sided with, how many times you sided with/against that person, and just overall whatever you say to them changed the way they viewed and thought about you. It also changed Lee's personality.

Also on the subject of gameplay, I really didn't have a problem with it not having so much. The story held me from start to finish, and when you did actually play, it wasn't by any means bad either. It was unique considering that just about every other game you see on the market now is a AAA explosions, stabby stabby, spray and pray game that, normally, focuses on the action more than the story. I value story above just about everything else. It has to be some damn fun gameplay to keep me playing if I don't find any interest in the story. Besides, in the end, isn't the point of any video game to provide you an experience? The experience that The Walking Dead gave me was by far one of the best experiences that I've ever had playing a video game. I don't find anything wrong with someone not liking it, that's their opinion, but I don't agree with the people who say it doesn't deserve the awards it's getting because it's not a "game" or that the choices don't "matter", it is a game, regardless that it has little gameplay, it is enough for it to be considered a video game, and the choices do matter, just not in a way that many people were likely expecting.

I'm going to be getting this game as soon as possible. As a fan of the Walking Dead (comics) it is hard to believe it took me so long to get around to getting it. I think it's because I was worried it would do nothing but make me depressed, like the comic. Thank God for Jim, as he has assured that there is humor to be had in this game's journey as well.